¶ Podcast Episode
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast . This is , as always , your host , mike Fano . I got a great episode for us today . But first and foremost , a couple new sponsors we have to get in here . We've been talking about them a lot and that is Buddy's Beard Care .
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And , last but not least , we did just land a brand new sponsor in Deemed Fit , first responder owned and operated company . It helps out first responders that were working throughout the pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic . All of the proceeds go to help out with first responders and veterans mental and physical health .
This is a great , great cause and I am completely behind it . I am wearing one of their hats now for everyone watching on Patreon and on YouTube . You can find them at deemedfitco . Use the promo code Mike Bono and you will save 20% . I feel like these promo reads are getting longer and longer as we go on through the show .
I'm fully on board with it , but I have a great episode for us today . We have done an all things cleveland and all things pittsburgh and now we gotta show youngstown some love here . So we're gonna do all things youngstown episode . I have a ragtag group of guests , all from the youngstown area . I'm gonna let them introduce themselves . A lot of former guests .
They're going to tell you their name , what they do for work , and y'all are going to answer a question here at the end , and that is is Dr Pepper overrated or underrated ? And Andrea , we're going to start with you .
All right , my name is Andrea Preparato . I am a social worker for hospice and I'm going to say that Dr Pepper is overrated because I'm just going to go with the classic . There's other dark cops out there Coke , Pepsi , I'm going with those .
All right , and he's seeming to become a staple of these roundtables . He was on last week for our NFL preview show . We're going to bring him back in , bill Stoy .
What's going on everybody ? Yeah , bill Stoy is the name For work . I do pharmaceutical sales and then Dr Pepper we're going to say underrated . Andrea said it Coke or Pepsi , it seems to always be the two that are brought up , never really Coke , pepsi or Dr Pepper . So I think it's one of the . The should be in that category at least .
So we'll say it's underrated all right .
Next on the list , we got colin hey y'all .
My name is colin . I am a project engineer for a heavy highway contractor in western pennsylvania and I'm gonna say that dr pepper is overrated , because you never hear anybody ask for a dr pepper and rum at the bar that's .
That's a solid . It's a solid point . Uh , for that one . Uh .
Next on the list we got matt um matt altimore , uh teacher and coach in latonia uh school district in beautiful columbiana , county ohio . I'm gonna go with uh underrated . I have a dr pepper every morning and I have one every night . Uh , don't drink coffee .
That's what I drink , uh , and I do order it anytime I go out , but I'm not a mixed drink guy , but anytime I do go out I have my . Oh , let's see , there , there we go , there we go .
So that's true , we got one right now , right now I I didn't even realize for the listeners out there listening on apple , google or spotify . I didn't know matt had a Dr Pepper before we asked this question . But last but not least , rounding out our roundtable , we got Chris .
I'm Christopher Barsko . I am a special education teacher at Lordstown High School in Southern Trumbull County and I tell you what . You asked me this question two , three years ago . I'm probably saying overrated , but come to my senses , I'm kind of here with Matt . I think Dr Pepper is underrated and packs that fire with the college football commercials .
So they got my attention right now first and foremost . So I'm picking Dr Pepper right now .
All right , I'll answer this question too , and I will say it is underrated too as well . My wife , like bris and matt here , she's obsessed with dr pepper . It's like the only dark pop she drinks when she drinks pop . So it's yeah , it's . It's always
¶ College Alma Maters and Youngstown Downtown
in the bono fridge for sure . Uh , definitely always have a Dr Pepper on hand . But we're not here to talk about that , we're here to talk about Youngstown here . And , chris , since we just started with you , we're going to have you start things off here . And you know , did you go to college at Youngstown State or did you go elsewhere ?
And if you didn't go to YSU , what made you pick to go elsewhere ?
So I started off my college career at Ohio University in Athens . At that point in time it was kind of still a hidden secret , I think . The enrollment numbers they keep breaking the record year after year , but it wasn't the popular choice when I went .
It's kind of a hidden gem I found went there year after year , but it wasn't the popular choice when I went . It's kind of a hidden gem I found . Went there for a year , lived it up , got good grades . It was time to come home and then got real fortunate .
Came back to Youngstown State in 2015 and was able to be on Coach Pelini's first three staffs there at Youngstown State and , yeah , got my special ed degree from there and I'm actually enrolled at YSU right now getting a CCP communications degree . So got my degree from there , have some hardware from there and forever feel tied to Youngstown .
Absolutely Collin . What about you ? What about you ? What about you ?
Yeah , I went to YSU class of 2020 , the good old COVID graduating class , so that was a benefit . But you know we overcame those challenges . And yeah , I went to school for civil engineering at YSU .
So here we are All right , Stoy . Anybody who listened last week will know where you went , but tell the new listeners out there . Did you go to YSU or not ? Did ?
not go to YSU . It was a border-raised Youngstown area but went right down the road to Kent State go Flashes . Yeah , I consider YSU really heavily , but just wanted to get a little bit further away from home so went to Kent .
No problem at all with that , Andrea . What about ?
you . I went to Bethany in West Virginia for my undergrad . Don't regret the experience . Immediately regretted that gas and the hospital were 20 to 45 minutes away . I was in the middle of nowhere . So glad to come back to Youngstown . I did get my master's there , so definitely enjoyed being back home .
Us Bethanians . No one ever thinks of that . How far everything is away from bethany , because it literally is in the middle of nowhere . Uh , for sure , I can attest to that as a . Uh , bethany alone , with andrea there .
It literally we did have the general store where if they didn't have it , you didn't need it . I mean , one section had like toilet seats , fishing poles , a wrench , a saw , and then you could get , like an egg sandwich the next aisle over . So it worked out Absolutely .
I miss that general store sometimes . Literally it was a smaller Walmart for everybody out there . If you couldn't find it there , you don't need it , but Matt round us out here it there .
You don't need it , uh , but matt round us out here . Um , yes , I'm , uh . I graduated undergrad and my master's at youngstown state . I actually didn't spend much time there as an undergrad . Uh , I attended college and , uh , at malone college in canton , ohio .
I thought I was in a big city then and then , uh , when I got done playing football sort of like Chris I had the opportunity to join Coach Trussell's staff .
I believe I'm a bit older than probably your demographic and most of the other guests here , but got a chance to join Coach Trussell's staff for a couple years and finished my undergrad and got my master's there and kind of been around the area all my life .
I got to tell you , matt , with the demographic , you'd be surprised with the show . I'll tell you that much . We have a wide range here at the Ride Home Rants and we don't discriminate against anybody here , for sure . Next , chris , let's go back to you . Is downtown Youngstown overrated or underrated , and why ? Next , chris , let's go back to you .
Is downtown Youngstown overrated or underrated , and why ?
I think it's unfortunate what's going on right now , with certain parts of it being kind of I don't know off limits or you know they're doing maintenance to it , but I really think it's underrated . Even you know , when I was there about 10 years ago on campus , even to where it's at now , it keeps coming on stronger and stronger . There's more to do .
It's attracting a really large demographic . You know it features a lot of the things that we're known for around here in Love , I mean . You've you got diverse authentic food . Um , you got a lot of entertainment , depending on if you want to go to a concert or performing arts . Um , it's got a little bit everything for everybody .
So I think it's becoming increasingly underrated . Honestly , starting to shake the rap , I kind of feel bad . I feel like sometimes youngstown gets a bad rap because if you're not from here , you still think steel mills and rust belt .
But it's , uh , I feel like sometimes Youngstown gets a bad rap because if you're not from here , you still think Steel Mills and Rust Belt , but I feel like it's starting to be a pretty robust downtown .
Yeah , I grew up in a Steel Mill town in West Virginia . You can't beat these little towns . I mean , youngstown is a lot bigger than my town . I'll tell you that my town has a grand total of 1,500 people in it , so you can't beat it . But yeah , I perform a lot in Youngstown . I've done a lot of shows comedy shows in Youngstown .
I love going to Youngstown . I love it . I've done a lot in your neck of the woods , matt , in Latonia . For sure , out there , we'll go to you next since I brought you up . Is it overrated or underrated ?
I think right now it's underrated a lot of . Like what chris said there's a lot of things to do . Um , I think we're coming in the cycle of , you know , people want to do a lot of different things all at once and you can get that in a downtown .
Uh , you know , I went through a period not to show my age there where uh , youngstown , uh , downtown , really didn't change at all for about 15 , 20 years . There it was the same thing same bars , same boarded up buildings , and you know it is kind of neat . We try , my wife and I try and get there every few months .
You know there's always something different , always something new , always something , you know , eclectic to try . So I think it's underrated right now .
Okay , andrea , what about you ?
I'm definitely going to have to go with underrated as well . I think that , like there's oftentimes where I talk about places that are down there that people have no idea that are there , like In Vibe , that's a martini bar . They have 110 different flavors of martinis . It's a nice , elegant place .
I mean , I think that they've been trying to do a lot to make it a better area . They're trying to save Youngstown and for that I think it's underrated A lot of people just don't want to go down there because of the rap that it has . Despite the construction right now , I think it would continue going up if it wasn't for that the explosion .
You know all the unfortunate things that have been happening .
Yeah , I know , speaking of the bars there , I mean
¶ Underrated Gems of Youngstown
one of my wife and I's favorite show , bar Rescue . We love that show . Youngstown's been on there a good bit . I think some of those are still open , if I'm not mistaken , and , like you , can't go wrong with that . You know who doesn't like to get a get a good drink after a long day of work . You know what I mean , stoy , what about you ?
Overrated or underrated ?
Got to go underrated for sure . I mean it seems to be having a resurgence , without a doubt . You got the amphitheater down there . Cavelli obviously go catch a football game at YSU , just kind of mention a few other things . I think a children's museum or kind of children's thing is going on down there as well , so a lot of things to go do .
Obviously you've got the restaurants , bars and stuff , but a lot of venues bringing in artists , comedians , stuff like that . So definitely underrated , a lot more going on down there than people think .
Colin round us out here .
Yeah , I'm going to have to agree with the rest of the panel here . I think it's very underrated . I think five , six years ago there was no better place to go on the weekend if you're looking for entertainment or drinks or anything like that .
I just think , with the pandemic and then the construction and everything that's happened here recently , I think they're really struggling and everybody down there is doing their best . But yeah , I'd have to say it's severely underrated and I'm hoping they can bounce back .
Yeah , I'm definitely going to answer this one . Like I said , I've done a lot of shows in Youngstown . It's actually was considered my first quote unquote in the comedy world away game that I did outside of my hometown and in Youngstown and I absolutely crush it there .
I love going to Youngstown , performed at a bunch of places , matt , you may know this one Little Hole in the Wall or the Tipsy Cow it is by far one of my favorite places to perform . Anytime I see that a booker promoter is saying hey , we got at the show at the tips camp , like please book me for that show . I love going there .
The staff is amazing , the food is amazing and the drinks are always on point . So yeah , like you said , a lot of hidden gems in Youngstown and around the city and not to be forgotten there . They still have the comedy club there in Youngstown , the funny stop . So definitely , like you guys said , entertainment you can't beat it . I love going to Youngstown .
It's not too far from where I live now so it's a quick trip for me as a comedian . I love those . I don't have to get a hotel . I can perform and get back home and sleep in my own bed , which is always nice for sure , chris . Let's go back to you now . Did you grow up in Youngstown or were you in one of the suburbs in ?
Youngstown . I was even a little further north of that , grew up in Cortland , ohio , in Trumbull County , not too far from Route 11 , though . So it wasn't a terribly far trip for myself , probably 20 , 25 minutes , but it was all highway driving . But no , I mean , if you're familiar with Trumbull County , particularly the northern part , it's pretty rural .
There's not much up there and you know you could go down to Howland and Niles , but again you're kind of capped in terms of what kind of entertainment you're able to tap into there . So yeah , I didn't grow up in Youngstown or in a suburb necessarily , but I was a frequent flyer my whole life .
I got you , colin , what about you ?
So I grew up in Coitville Township , which if you take 422 out of the city of Youngstown and you stop just before you hit the PA line , that'll be my stomping grounds there . So I always used to tell people I grew up between Lowville and Hubbard , so a little combination of those two places , and yeah , I spent quite a bit of time in Youngstown .
There was not much else to do out in my neck of the woods so when you were looking for somewhere to go it was either Boardman or Youngstown .
I got you , Andrea . What about you ?
Um , I'm going to say that I lived in Austin town but I grew up on the West side . Um , my parents owned a restaurant down there for a while . It was a little mom and pop place where either you grew up going to it or you've never heard of it before . Matt , I feel like you're going to be the only potential one that has known it .
But it was called Molly's and my dad was actually the first person in Youngstown to have wings . So he went down to Roscoe's to order his chicken . He was throwing the wings away and my dad was like I'm going to deep fry those in the eighties and on his menus it would say Jimmy's famous wings , cause he was the first one to have them . So very much love .
Have a because he was the first one to have them . So very much love , have a . Good love for Youngstown I'm tied to it All , right , matt .
What about you ?
Well , I was born and raised in Columbia County , which is in Latonia , the town , as you mentioned , home of the Tipsy Cow , but it's right on 11 . It's just a 25-minute drive . Youngstown was always a big city with my parents and Andrea I have to say I don't remember Molly's , but I do remember . I think I remember that sign .
I think I remember that sign being there Always . Remember that a long time back . So you know we're always going out to eat there . You know growing up and finding things to do , but uh , uh , you know , grew up going to Mill Creek park and stuff and and just still it's still the big city , I guess close to me .
So , um , you know it's always been kind of hanging out around there All right Stoy round us out here .
Yeah , also one of the suburbs . Uh , I feel like the suburbs really entail youngstown as well , so not really the in-city limits , but one of the closer suburbs . Suburbs for sure , um , in austintown , all right , all right all right .
So , uh , colin , let's go with you . We'll have you start this one . Who , would you say , is the most famous person from Youngstown that you know or remember ?
I think I'd have to go with Mr Mancini . Mr Boom Boom himself , I think that's a name that everybody who grew up around Youngstown knows , regardless of your age . So yeah , I think I'd have to say that would be my choice for that .
All right , marsco , what about you ?
It's a tough one for me because I've been able to cross paths with both of them . But as a football coach , I'm going to say Jim Trestle , getting to meet him several times during my time as a coach there . Just an incredible guy , I remembered my name .
After meeting him just one time I would sit down and have a 10-minute conversation with you just about life . Uh , it's an a1 personality , a1 guy . Um , you know , as a michigan fan , he kind of made my uh , childhood a living hell , but uh , we were able to laugh about that uh for a little bit . Whatnot uh .
But no , I'd say coach trestle , what he accomplished at ohio state and uh know the impact he made coming back and , you know , kind of getting a lot of this revival jump-started .
I feel like you know , youngstown kind of embodies the campus and vice versa , and some of the things he was able to do to bring that back to the forefront , people's minds , I think really helped what's going on downtown , coach Tress .
All right , Andrea . What about you ?
Yeah , they took mine . You mentioned Tressel . Nobody has anything bad to say about him . And if you mentioned Boom Boom , someone's like Boom Boom , someone's like , oh , and they have a story about him . So those are definitely the two .
Okay , stoy , what about you ?
Man took two of the good ones . Uh , as far as like personally , no , I thought like billy price out there , I think it's another one name coming out of awesometown , so um , knew him , kind of grew up with him , played ball with him , um , and then I don't want to take one of the last ones , but gotta , gotta throw kelly bablick out there .
I remember growing up his I mean it seemed like obviously the city was rallying around him every time he had a big fight . I remember watching the pay-per-views and people coming over and stuff . So
we'll throw that one out there as well .
Hey , I'm still . You took mine with Pavlik . Former guest of the show . One of the first guests we had on the podcast was Kelly Pavlik . He was going to be mine but Matt ran us out here .
Wow , you know . You know I had a chance to work with coach Russell , like you guys said . You know not so much anymore , but it used to be dependent upon what circles you went or what conversation you were having . You know trafficking was would always come up , no matter where you're , at what state and what region .
They'd say , oh Youngstown , what's up with the trafficking guy ? You know so I'd probably go with that one , just because it hasn't been said . But you know there's no denying . You know the contributions that . You know Coach Truss , and you know Boom , boom , like you said , pretty famous .
And of course , if I'm the last one , I guess I'm going to pull out Ed O'Neill too , because everybody knows him and everybody mentions that too .
Absolutely A lot of solid names , like people don't realize the amount of people that actually came out of Youngstown and that area . You know it's phenomenal to see . Matt , we're going to stay with you on this one .
Uh , if someone was coming from out of town and asked you what three things you'd recommend for them to do in Youngstown or in the suburbs , uh , what are your recommendations for them ?
Number one I'd recommend , recommend . I know Andrea had family , but I've got family that runs and owns the MBR in Youngstown . They've got to get a bite to eat . Get some authentic Italian down at the MBR restaurant . That's got to be number one . And number two they've got to check out Mill Creek Park . There's so many things to do just there .
You could spend a whole day and you know what . Number three oh boy , that's a . That's a tough one . There's a . There's a first two . I thought you're going to ask me too . So two , but you know , realistically , there are a lot of independent small mom and pop shops .
Just take a day to stroll and , you know , maybe away from the strip malls and boardman there's a lot of nice niche stores that you can get to with friendly people that are off the beaten path , so to speak . That's kind of what I'm going to go with .
Stoy . What's your three recommendations ?
I feel lucky I get to go one of the early ones here . We're going to take some good picks With the White House Fruit Farm out there . I think , go with . Think , go get the blueberry donut um , they always got a ton of events going on in the fall . Go pick your own strawberries , blueberries , stuff like that . So cool day to fend .
Or cool , uh , cool place to spend a day in the fall or really throughout the year . Um , I'll throw one out . I'm not sure if everyone's gonna know about it , but jimmy's italian specialties . It's a italian , imported italian store . Um , got deli bakery , uh , stuff like that . A ton of imported meats and , um , great , scratch made deli and stuff like that .
So a great place to go for lunch . Grab some stuff for the holidays um , stock up there . And then , third , we'll say go go catch a ysu game . I think that it really embodies youngstown . Um , maybe go to mvr before I can name some other places , but um , it's not a great place around , uh , youngstown .
Then go grab , uh , go catch a football game all right , andrea , what about you ?
what about ?
you . Um , well , I would say there's a new place in austintown that I just love I joke that I pay their electric bill there every month because I buy coffee so much there but it's called Junie's Cafe . You know , it's new , they just opened up in January , but they are all about Youngstown supporting small businesses .
So I would say that Go for a walk , you know , at Milk Creek Park or go down for Saturday of the month , they have the Youngstown Flea Market and I know , you know a milk creek park . Or go down for saturday of the month , they have the youngstown flea market , and I know I'm kind of making this too easy .
But then just go downtown , you know , find any place to eat down there . There's a lot of small businesses . Um , just support local all the way around all right , marsco , what about you ?
yeah , I kind of . I kind of feel what story was saying here about going last . I'm going to kind of be repeating a lot of things , uh no I'm trying to mix it up .
Give everyone a fair chance here .
No , no , it's good . I , I think it uh , you know , speaks toward , uh , how great some of these things are . But , uh , if I had to pick three , um , you know I'm going to , you know , matt's family's place . I'm going to the MVR .
I had a chance to try just about everything there , being on staff as long as I was and I could sit there and eat for quite a while . It's a great place , good big menu . Then I'm definitely going to check out a YSU event . You know , tailgating , I think kind of ties into that .
Um , having traveled around a couple places , there are many people that tailgate like we do . Uh , in this area . I think that's kind of unique to us too , that we only know one , uh one way to do it here . But when you go other places , it's like wow , we're either really cool or degenerates , but either way it seems like it's awesome .
So and then , uh , you know I'm finishing up , like Andrew said , I'm going downtown , probably getting a couple slices at the Avalon . You know , bar hopping , hitting up O'Donnell's for old time's sake , you know . So just bouncing around , living up , taking in whatever's downtown that night .
All right , I hate to break your heart , but O'Donnell's closed .
Jeez , so we have no more O'Donnell's closed .
Jeez , so we have no more O'Donnell's in the area . Way to crush everyone's dreams , Andrea .
You can go down to Whistle and Keg where you get the little . You give them your credit card and they put it on a wristband and then you can serve yourself . Beer , wine , Dangerous though .
I'm not thinking about what I'm doing Goes to the degenerate part .
That's dangerous for sure , Colin round us out on this one , yeah , so I'm going to have to beat this dead horse , but I'm definitely going with spending the day in Mill Creek .
That definitely be one of my top suggestions Catching an event at YSU or maybe a show , uh , downtown at the dior , um , and then you definitely got to make the time to go get yourself a slice of avalon pizza .
I tell that to all my out-of-town friends that come in um , you got to make the time all right , and in the interest of making it fair , and because I stoy kind of brought this up and I know where his mind's going to go on this one , but , colin , we're going to stay with you from a scale of one to 10 , one being the lowest and 10 being the highest .
How do you rank Jimmy's Italian specialties on Belmont ?
I think you got to rank it at 10 . I don't know if there's anywhere that does it quite like Jimmy's .
Okay .
Marsco oh , it's a 10 . I've had the opportunity to work with some of the owners there for various fundraising things and definitely made my stops in there , and there's just really there's nothing really like it around here , unless you want to go to a flea market or up to Cleveland .
I mean , we're really uh , we're fortunate to have a store like that around here . Somebody that , uh , you know , the Italian dinners made by a mom and grandma and all that are uh big . They always , you know , got to get the stuff from Jimmy , so uh , still eat Jimmy's raviolis at my in-laws on Christmas .
You can't beat a mom or a grandma at a diet dinner , anyway , no matter where you go . But Andrea , what about you ? Where are you ranking Jimmy's ?
I got to rank it a 10 as well . I know that seems biased , but the different flavors of cannolis and everything that they have like . If I'm out there for work and it's lunchtime , that's what I'm getting .
I think you mentioned it before . I was going to be performing at the funny stop and you're like you need to go get a cannoli before you at Jimmy's before you perform . I can't eat a cannoli before I go on stage . I might get it for after , but that's going to ruin the whole set .
I get a couple of cannolis in me and it's , it's gonna be downhill from there for me . I mean no offense , I was just at the briar hill festival and they had cannolis there , but it was just like your plain typical cannoli , which is great . You gotta love a classic . But why not go try like 16 different flavors of cannolis ?
Right , that's like an italian dream absolutely story .
I think we know where you're going with this when you just mentioned him in the last question .
Yeah , I feel like I got dipped on the last question . You want to give him a shout , but I got to see it up close and personal . That was my first job there in high school , started on my 16th birthday and worked for Three or four years for them , so place is legit . It's a 10 . Yeah , they do everything . They're versatile .
Uh , great people that own it , great people that work there Um , always an enjoyable experience , for sure .
All right , matt Randall South . Where are you ranking Jimmy's ? I got to rank it uh , not ranked .
I'm going to have to try it out . I have actually never been to Jimmy's on Belmont . Um , yeah , I have never , never been . I know it's been there . There , I've never heard a bad word . Um , you know I come from family . Uh , you know we do the feast of the fishes on christmas and everything .
I mean I've carried that , uh , carried that through , but uh , our family's kind of been well , you get this from here , you get this from here , you get this from here . And I've kind of just been carrying that out . I've never , uh , done a one-stop shop for my italian thing . So , you know , I mean the pepperoncinis , I got to get from here .
They , uh , you know bakla , you got to get from here . You know the cannolis , you got to get from here . So I'm going to have to try and check it out . It might make my life a little bit easier .
You know I I unfortunately have never gotten to eat at Jimmy's when I've gone to the my parents , because we still do the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve , but they always go to the Strip District in Pittsburgh to get it , and you know what ? It's the same distance from where they live to Youngstown , it is to Pittsburgh .
So maybe it's time to try mix it up a little bit and try it out .
Yeah , we go to the Strip District too . That's where , but we'll have to try it out . Like you said , Absolutely .
We'll stay with you on this one . Matt Youngstown unfortunately had to cancel their Italian festival downtown this year , but have you ever been in previous years and if so , what did you think of it ?
I have been to the Italian Fest in Youngstown of it . I have been to the Italian Fest in Youngstown . You know the Lowellville Festival is just across the way near Coitesville . That's where you can see the famous baby doll dance , so I try to get to there all the time .
Then you just have the Briar Herald Festival that Andrea said , but also , you know , any chance you can get up there to get a St Anthony's pizza ,
¶ Italian Festivals and Youngstown Concerts
any chance you can get up there to get a St Anthony's pizza . That's pretty good too . So I've been to most of the Italian festivals over the years around . It's kind of a shame the actual Italian fest got canceled , but you know , hopefully it comes back here in a year or two , even better than ever .
Absolutely . I've been meaning to make it to that low bill . We highlight them every year , we talk about them on for the past four years that we've been doing the ride home brands podcast . We talk about the low bill Italian festival and it just never fails . Every time they have it , I'm just like I'm booked that week .
I can't be doing shows , I can't make it , but I promise them like one year I'm gonna book a week in youngstown during the italian festival of boville and I will . I will be there , but stoy . What about you ? What the the italian fest ?
yeah , I mean , I feel like any fest in youngstown than italian fest , got the lovo . Yeah , uh , lovo fest , briar hill fest , uh , mount carmel fest , a ton of them and they're all awesome . Uh , the one you're talking about downtown . Unfortunate it did get cancelled , but Was the question overrated , underrated ?
I'll say it's great .
Absolutely great fest down there Youngstown . You got a ton of great Italian people , so you're good at tying people all coming together . You're good food , good time , a ton of good music and stuff like that , so always a good time . Alright , andrea , what about you ?
Yeah , definitely on Um , you're good good food , good time , a ton of good music and stuff like that , so always a good time , all right .
Andrea , what about you ? Um , yeah , definitely unfortunate , just like everybody else said . Um , I like it because I think that they all do something a little bit different . I haven't been to the low bill one . I think I got yelled at for that on the Italian round table talk .
Um , so definitely have yeah , definitely have to get out there , but they do different stuff . I know that they've had like pageants for like kids there , for people who are Italian , and they can , you know , write a letter and compete and , you know , win money for scholarships . So I think it's different and it's , you know , it's neat .
So hopefully that'll be back sooner rather than later .
All right , marsco , what about you ?
I was hoping we were able to count . The lowville festival is a youngstown festival . We're not well , yeah , see , I , I , I frequent in the lowville one . Um , I've made stops at the uh , you know the briar hill , you know the , the one downtown , whatnot , unfortunately ?
But uh , you know , uh , like andrea said , they all kind of provide you with something different . I , you know , getting to compete in some of the Italian fests in the area where I'm at , I always , you know , when I go to a different one , I always love watching Bocce Mora different . You know , us Italians love to compete .
Everyone mentions the food and the music and you know , bsing with each other , but nothing like Mora getting up in each other's face . You know bsing with each other , but nothing , nothing like mora getting up in each other's face , screaming , spitting on each other . So , yeah it , uh , they're underrated , they're all great .
Uh , again , kind of like I mentioned with the tailgate , it's just something . Uh , sure , they happen in other places , but I feel like , uh , we're cut above the rest here we're special .
All right , col Colin round us out here .
Yeah , so growing up where I did the and going to school in Lowville , the Lowville festival was a pretty big deal for us , so I I usually frequented there . I I think I can safely say I've only been to the festival downtown one time since I was able to drive myself places .
I was definitely a frequent flyer at the Louisville Festival , but it's a shame that they had to cancel . Hopefully they're able to get it back for next year .
Hopefully . I love a good Italian festival . You can't beat it anywhere . You go anywhere in the country . It seems like when you have an Italian festival it's just good people , good food , very loud . No matter where you're at , it's loud .
Us paisans , we're a loud bunch , so for sure you know what , andrew , I feel like you've been , you know , getting snubbed and being in the middle here , so we're going to start with you on this one here . I know you kind of like to wait , but you know we're going to make you go first . I feel like this is a toss up for you .
People may not know , but Youngstown has a lot of great places to have concerts , between downtown venues and the university . Have you ever been to a concert in ? Youngstown has a lot of great places to have concerts between downtown venues and the university . Have you ever been to a concert in Youngstown and if so , who did you see and where at ?
Gosh well , this is easy because I've never been to them , so very short answer .
I haven't .
I know I know they hold something like inside Covelli and they have the amphitheater outside . I've never been to one . I'm not a big concert goer , so sorry that was a disappointment for you guys .
I let you go first , and that's what you , that's what you give me , andrea , matt , let's go to you Wow , wow .
Well , let's see if this fits in your demographic here . But uh , probably the only concerts I've seen in youngstown in the last 10 , 15 years have been disney based , disney on ice and uh , disney concerts that they've had . Uh , we're going back a long time ago . I used to .
We used to go see concerts in the up , up and coming bands at a place called the varsity club which was uptown . Uh , for two dollars got to see some bands that uh , you know , you know , eventually made it semi-big , so that was kind of good . But that was a long time ago and many years ago .
So , uh , yeah , just been Disney stuff for a long time , you're right , I have a son , I get it .
You see a lot of those when they're younger . For sure , stoy , what about you ?
I can't say I've seen too many either . But if we're talking bands I'll shout out RDNA . I've seen them down at the Amphitheater and quite a few different bars and stuff , so we'll shout out them as a band . But haven't seen too many concerts in Youngstown actually . Okay .
Colin .
Yeah , so I've been to quite a few concerts in Youngstown . Actually . I've been to Stanbois Stadium Auditorium . I've been to the Covelli Center , the new amphitheater I'm going to have to say my favorite ever , if anybody's a fan of country music . Zach Brown Band performed at YSU Stadium . That was probably the coolest concert experience I've had in a long time .
And I've been to see Kenny Chesney in downtown Pittsburgh . So that says a lot .
Yeah , you don't realize how Chesney fans will treat a town Until he comes into town in Pittsburgh .
Yeah , it's a little bit intense .
Yeah , you're like oh , it's a country concert . It's going pittsburgh . Yeah , it's a little bit intense , it's . Yeah , you're like oh , it's a country concert , it's gonna be fine . No , it's not , it's not gonna be okay at all .
Uh , he brings a rowdy bunch , but marscoe round is out here I'm just trying to think of this chronologically so I didn't miss any . Um , the first really big concert I remember going to in youngstown was at Stambaugh Auditorium . It was a little-known country band at the time called Florida Georgia Line .
I think I paid $20 to sit at a very nice viewing area and I think it was less than six months later . They were on the CMA's winning awards and I think I got one of the last $20 tickets you could get to go see them . So that was a really cool way to start it off .
I think that was like my senior year of high school Saw Zach Brown and Blake Shelton at Stanbaugh stadium . It's a really cool venue for an outdoor . One . Took my mom for one of her birthdays to the Covelli center to see Rod Stewart . That was pretty cool . I was kicking soccer balls out into the crowd . I didn't know that was a thing .
Yes , he had a professional soccer career , so that was unique . And then you know me and she was my girlfriend at the time , but my now wife .
We went to the amphitheater for one of their early shows and we got to see Brett Eldridge there Gave me a lot of fond memories , so gotten a sample a little bit of all the venues and they each kind of offer their own thing . I don't really know if I could pick one from the other .
But again , very blessed we got all these places , to have all these wonderful things , and feel like we take it for granted sometimes .
Yeah , absolutely , we're winding down here . These ones should be pretty quick here . But , colin , we're going to start with you . What's the one best thing about Youngstown ?
I think I'd have to go with the people . I don't think you'll find a closer-knit , more robust and diverse group of people anywhere else , or at least nothing like , uh , like Youngstown . So I I think that's what I'd have to say .
All right , marsco .
Yeah , uh , there's a lot of ways you could go with this , but , uh , I got to reiterate what Colin said . Uh , you know , I , I met my wife in the main tailgate lot outside the stadium . The amount of people that , hey , you help out with football , hey , what can I do for you ? How can I help you ?
Just a bunch of people that want to help other people and make the area great . It's a lot of positivity when we were making our run to the title game . I don't really know how to explain it , it's just palpable . You feel the fanfare we really galvanized together and it's people .
Okay , andrea , what about you ? Obviously , I agree with them , with the people , but I'm going to say the food as well . And actually I feel bad that I didn't mention this , but Handles is like such a staple that's definitely top three to do while you're here . I'm sitting in the parking lot , but yeah , people say New York has the best pizza .
Youngstown has the best pizza , for sure .
So food All right Stoy .
She took mine . Really , I was going to specifically say the pizza , though . Uh , I mean the people . Great food in general , great , but youngstown pizza it's , um , I think , starting to get a little notoriety going around . But um , I know avalon was mentioned , gotta throw wedgwood pizza out . There is one of the best . Uh , plenty of others for sure .
Uh , hopefully I'm not jumping the gun on a pizza question coming up , but I definitely gotta mention . Uh , I mentioned the gun on a pizza question coming up , but I definitely got to mention . I mentioned the Youngstown pizza day and give us some love .
Well , maybe I don't know , We'll see how the last question goes here . But , Matt , what about you on this one ? One best thing in Youngstown ?
I'm going to have to say the history . You guys are all talking about the people and the diversity in that , but you know to go through the ups and downs and the twists and turns . I'm going to have to say the history of Youngstown for being a midsize city , really appreciative and just really unique .
All right , and last question that we have here . Matt , we'll start with you on this one . The one best restaurant in the city of Youngstown is MVR . Yeah , that kind of had a feeling that was where you were going on . That one restaurant in the city of Youngstown is MVR . That kind of had a feeling that was where you were going on that one .
But Stoy , so many good ones . If I had to go with one , we'll kind of take a cheat code and say bogeys and double bogeys , bogeys out towards your way . Call it out towards poitsville uh , local area . I like going out there after uh , playing some golf and no run or something . Then double bogeys over in boardman uh , good food good atmosphere .
Uh , so many good ones though all right , andrea .
What about you ? What about you ?
this one's super , super hard , but I am gonna say that's a pretty authentic italian place and they make their own noodles and stuff , so I really like them .
You're you're paying for the atmosphere , but great food okay marscoe , mahoning valley restaurant , mvr , all the way and we , uh . But I also want to throw out a little hole in the wall . Uh , we got a lot of wings there . I always got the blackberry barbecue , the royal oaks . Uh , it was one of those bars .
I believe it's on bar rescue , um , and right off the exit . Good little hole in the wall , all right .
All right , colin , round us out here uh , I'm gonna have to go with Golden Dawn . For mine Not a lot of , I mean , if you're from Youngstown you know all about it , but if you're not from here , it definitely could be easily missed . Definitely worth the time and quintessential Youngstown .
Alright . Well , that is actually the last question I have here for this all things Youngstown
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, well , that is actually the last question I have here for this All Things Youngstown episode and , as you can hear in the background , probably , my son is getting a little routed because it's about feeding time . So we're going to go ahead and we're going to wrap this episode up here with the All Things Youngstown .
I want to thank my guest , chris Matt , colin , andrea and , as always , he's been a staple of the Roundtable's Bill Stoy . Thank you guys for coming on . Really appreciate you taking time out of your evening to sit and talk with me about all things Youngstown and where you guys are from .
This was a lot of fun but , as always , if you enjoyed the show , be a friend , tell a friend . If you didn't tell them anyways , they might like it just because you didn't . That's going to do it for me . I will see y'all next week .